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Carrizo Plains trip over Veteran's Day Weekend

Leo_jb

Leo_jb

City boy
Joined
Nov 22, 2011
Location
San Francisco
Moto(s)
'22 350 EXC-F;
'21 Tenere;
'02 YZ250
Name
Leo
Short ride report on our ride this past weekend. SRAD600 and Leo_jb on a four day camping trip to Carrizo on KTM 990 Adventures.

The RR will be heavy on the pictures so it will take us a while to post the photos.
 

The Old Coast Road




More shots from the Old Coast Road




One of Leo's detours.


Dead end




Either Los Burros Rd or Coast Ridge Rd

\
Eldrick on top of the world
 
Yeah, the terrain is pretty spectacular. But the best part is how solitary it is. Eldrick and I rode for miles without seeing another person. Plus the weather was perfect. Not even very cold at night.
 

Our first camp. We were traveling in the dark Friday night hoping to get to Selby Campground. My GPS said we could get there via Hwy 166, but when we got to the turnoff we found a locked gate. Instead we headed a little further east, then south of 166 to Bates Canyon campground. Had the whole place to ourselves, though the pit toilets were pretty disgusting. Fire ban was also in effect.


Eldrick at Bates Canyon


Back on the road Saturday morning






Gas and breakfast in New Cuyama


New Cuyama


My favorite shot: the double dirt nap. We were having a great time exploring a dry riverbed along Quatal Canyon. Pretty deep sand, but manageable on the loaded KTMs as long as we kept our speed up. However, slowing down for a sharp right turn in combination with a section of really deep sand was our undoing. I thought Eldrick did it on purpose so I wouldn't feel as bad about dumping the bike.


Eldrick cresting a short rise to nowhere. Dead end on the back side and lots of effort to turn around.








Eldrick


Leo
 

At the visitor center






Road up Caliente Ridge


View from the top








Selby Campground. Hose bibs, clean pit toilets, picnic tables with sunshades, and fire rings. What more could we ask for?




View from the campground. Unfortunately we didn't get one of the primo spots.



 















There are a lot of trails off the two main roads through Carrizo, but most of them have been closed. We explored as many of the remaining open ones as we could, but they were all out-and-back.




Q: How do you keep beer cold when its 40 miles back to camp? A:10 lb bag of ice in a backpack. Yeah, my butt was wet by the time we got back, but it was totally worth it. Ice cold beer.


Sunset


On the way home. Shot this after we had just come down the road in the background. Whoops.


Solar-thermal tower in Bakersfield. I would love to see this in operation.




Fin
 
Beautiful pics! :thumbup
 
Great!
I want to go there..
 
I just helped. :)

You take great photos Leo! I love the dirt nap photos. I'm going to remember that you like carrying the beer for everyone if we ever go exploring. :p

[YouTube]IQkzpUw_244[/YouTube]
 
sfcootz said:
You take great photos Leo! I love the dirt nap photos. I'm going to remember that you like carrying the beer for everyone if we ever go exploring. :p
Click to expand...

What she said. :thumbup Seriously, you put my photos to shame, but i'll try and get some more posted up tomorrow. Here's a few of day one.


Our second stop on day one to take a break.


Nice overlook of the pacific.


Returning for an exploratory run which dead-ended in a grove of trees.


BTW if any of you get the chance to ride with this guy, just do it. We managed a little of 1,100 miles that weekend, and it was all pretty awesome. :ride Unlike yours truly, one should never follow behind a faster rider in the dirt while wearing shades at dusk. The whole time I was clearing my sunglasses and wondering why I still couldn't see. Then, I removed the shades....ahhh, the dirt was on the INSIDE of the lens...:rofl
 
Last edited:
No false modesty Eldrick - you were great to ride with and I thought we matched up perfectly. Actually it was kind of weird how we independently had our bikes set up almost exactly the same way, right down to the sucky MEFO explorers. When/where do we go next? Did you mention something about Baja?
 
Hell yeah, I want to do a Baja trip! Looks like you guys had a great time, nice pics!
 
Leo IS fun to ride with and excellent at finding fun detours. He truly is an adventurer. I'm impressed with 1100 miles, sounds like a weekend well spent.
 
I just recently picked up a DR650 and all that is in my back yard so I'm looking forward to hitting all those. Thanks for the report :thumbup

I was up Sierra Madre road that weekend behind Bates Campground. It was a great weekend for riding.
 
rmcobb said:
I just recently picked up a DR650 and all that is in my back yard so I'm looking forward to hitting all those. Thanks for the report :thumbup

I was up Sierra Madre road that weekend behind Bates Campground. It was a great weekend for riding.
Click to expand...

Aha! Now I remember where I saw Bates CG! Couldn't place the name but knew I'd seen it at some point in the past.


Thanks for the report and photos, Eldrick and Leo_jb!
Nice to see one of my favorite places again. There's a ton of fun stuff out there.
We'll probably head down that way in the spring when it's green and luscious :)




WoodsChick
 
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